Name: Scientiae 2025: Istanbul, 16-19 September, Annual Conference
Start: 2025-09-16T10:00:00+03:00
End: 2025-09-19T22:00:00+03:00
Location: Istanbul

Scientiae 2025: Istanbul, 16-19 September, Annual Conference

from Tuesday 16 September 2025 (10:00) to Friday 19 September 2025 (22:00)

Monday 15 September 2025
Tuesday 16 September 2025

11:00 Registration & Welcome Coffee
Registration & Welcome Coffee
11:00 - 12:15
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)

12:15 Opening Remarks
Opening Remarks
12:15 - 12:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)

12:45 Brief Pause
Brief Pause
12:45 - 13:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
13:00 Allegorists, Alchemists and Iatrochemists in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
Allegorists, Alchemists and Iatrochemists in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
13:00 - 14:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

13:00 Allegorists, Alchemists and Iatrochemists in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire - Feza Günergun (Professor emerita of History of Science)
14:00 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
14:00 - 14:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
14:30
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

14:30 Translation of Scientific Texts into Ottoman Turkish in the Early Modern Era - Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu (Professor Emeritus of History of Science, Honorary President of the Turkish Society for the History of Science) Kaan Üçsu (Istanbul University) Ahmet Tunç Şen (Columbia University)
16:00 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
16:00 - 16:15
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
16:15
16:15 - 17:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

16:15 “This Under Globe”: Proprioceptive Worldmaking in Shakespeare’s Public Theaters - Adam Rzepka (Montclair State University (USA))

16:35 Cultural Encounters and Adaptations in the Late Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire: Theater, Portraiture, and Knowledge Transmission - M. Fatih Çalışır (Istanbul University Institute for Islamic Studies)

16:55 Playing at the World: Students, Chess Knowledge, and Its Global Dimension - Matthias Roick (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
16:15 - 17:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

16:15 The Ottoman Reception of Matthioli’s De Materia Medica: Knowledge Transmission and Pharmacobotanical Adaptation - Mustafa Yavuz

16:35 A Non-Muslim Source of Ottoman Medicine: The Case of Garshuni Manuscript in Mardin - Kadir Çelik (Istanbul Medeniyet University and Izmır Ege University)

16:55 What’s in a Book Collector’s Mind? Delving into the Renaissance Medical Library of Laurentius de Rubeis - Dina Bacalexi (CNRS)
16:15 - 17:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

16:15 Leopardi as a Byzantine Scholar, Translator of George Gemistos Plethon - Giulia Beccaria (Italian Institute for Historical Studies (Naples) - National and Kapodistrian University (Athens))

16:35 Ascensio ad Deum, a Neoplatonic Program in Renaissance Disguise: The Reception of the Teachings of Ficino and Pico in H. C. Agrippa von Nettesheim’s De Occulta Philosophia - Monika Frazer-Imregh (Károli University)

16:55 The Cycle of Seven Planets – Iconography and Applications - Agata Starownik (University of Warsaw (Poland))
17:45 Free Time / Transfer to Welcome Reception (self-arranged)
Free Time / Transfer to Welcome Reception (self-arranged)
17:45 - 19:00
Room: From Vezneciler Metro Station (close to the conference venue at Istanbul University), take the M2 metro line towards Şişhane. Exit at Şişhane station and walk approximately 3 minutes along Galip Dede Street to reach the Orient-Institut Istanbul in Beyoğlu.

19:00 Welcome Reception at Orient-Institut Istanbul
Welcome Reception at Orient-Institut Istanbul
19:00 - 21:30
Room: Orient-Institut Istanbul, Şahkulu Mah., Galip Dede Cad. No. 65, 34421 Beyoğlu – İstanbul, Türkiye
Wednesday 17 September 2025
09:15
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

09:15 The Concept of the Sciences in Bernard de Fontenelle's Philosophy - Daniel Špelda (Masaryk University) Eszter Kovács (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Dagmar Pichová (Masaryk University Brno)
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

09:15 Instruments of Insight: Revealing the Tangible Dialogue Between Books and Instruments in Libraries - Samuel Gessner (CIUHCT, University of Lisbon)

09:35 Simulating Lunar Motions: Gıyās ed-Din Ibn Fath-Allah al-Kātib al-Baghdādī’s Heart-Shaped Diagram in the Context of Ottoman Volvelles - Gaye Danışan (Istanbul University)

09:55 The Encyclopedic Nature of the Collection of Kunstkammer of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague - Jindra Kubickova (Charles University) Zuzana Vařáková (Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University)
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

09:15 Rooted or Planted? The Power of Etymology in J. A. Comenius and Early Modern Culture of Knowledge - Lenka Řezníková (Institute of Philosphy, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague)

09:35 News and Prophecy Between Upper Hungary and Amsterdam: Mikuláš Drabík, Jan Amos Comenius and Learned Communication - Vladimír Urbánek (Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences)

09:55 Early Critics of the Rosicrucian Manifestos: Budovec and Libavius - Jiri Michalik (Palacky University, Olomouc)
10:45 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:45 - 11:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
11:00
11:00 - 12:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

11:00 Gottfried Kirch’s Observational Journals (1677–1710) and the Secrets of Early Modern Astronomical Observations - Justyna Rogińska (Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences)

11:20 Sobieski Moves the Sun. Poems Dedicated to King Jan III of Poland by Johannes Hevelius's Correspondents - Maciej Jasiński
11:00 - 12:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

11:00 Making Science Global: Examples from Mesmerism and Newtonianism - Derya Tarbuck (Bahcesehir University) Kapil Raj Rob Iliffe
11:00 - 12:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

11:00 The Stone-Eaters: Lithophagy and Scholarly Fantasies of Ascetic Diets in Late Imperial China - Brian Li

11:20 Non-Western Science and Arts: A View from Latin America Through the Works of J.M. Briceño Guerrero - Juan Acevedo (University of Lisbon)
12:00 Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum, Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum or IU Rare Books Library Collections (Registration Required)
Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum, Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum or IU Rare Books Library Collections (Registration Required)
12:00 - 14:30
Room: Lunch • Venue: Istanbul University Professors’ House (Profesörler Evi), Beyazıt Campus. Optional Visits (Registration Required) • II. Bayezid Turkish Bath Culture Museum (II. Bayezid Türk Hamam Kültürü Müzesi) — Balabanağa Mah., Kimyager Derviş Paşa Sok. No:2, Beyazıt. • Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum (İstanbul Üniversitesi Rıdvan Çelikel Arkeoloji Müzesi) — Mimar Kemalettin / Ordu Cad. (Vezneciler area), Istanbul University. • IU Rare Books Library Collections (Nadir Eserler Bölümü) — Istanbul University Main Library, Rare Books Section, Beyazıt Campus.
14:30
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

14:30 Cross-Cultural-ness of Astronomical Instrumentation Reconsidered - Afra Akyol (Istanbul Medeniyet University (Türkiye)) Beyzanur Topçuoğlu (Istanbul Medeniyet University) Feyzanur Şaşmaz Akyüz (Istanbul Medeniyet University) Silke Ackermann (History of Science Museum, Oxford) Taha Yasin Arslan (Istanbul Medeniyet University)
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

14:30 Gift-Economy and the Jesuit Management of Relics in the Asian Mission - Stefano Gulizia (Ca' Foscari University in Venice)

14:50 Intellectual Mobility and the Dutch Levant Company: The Republic of Letters in the Ottoman World - Mai Lootah (Rice University)

15:10 Science, Commerce, and the Circulation of Knowledge: The James Watt and Matthew Boulton Partnership in 18th-Century Knowledge Networks - Nihal Özdemir (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University)
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

14:30 A Polyglot Parrot in Baroque Rome - Matthijs Jonker (Utrecht University)

14:50 Between Wonder and Skepticism: Ottoman Engagement with Medieval Islamic Cosmographies - Feray Coşkun (Özyeğin University)

15:10 Correcting Arctic Knowledge. Uncertain Islands and Animals in Far North - Djoeke van Netten (University of Amsterdam)
16:00 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
16:00 - 16:15
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
16:15
16:15 - 17:15
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

16:15 Is It Time to Abandon 'Islamic Science'? Genres, Languages, Centers and the Problem of Periodization in Light of Recent Scholarship - Harun Küçük (University of Pennsylvania)
17:15 Participants gather in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) prior to Yenikapı Shipwrecks visit
Participants gather in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) prior to Yenikapı Shipwrecks visit
17:15 - 17:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)

17:30 Optional visit to the Yenikapı Shipwrecks (Limited to 30 people; Registration required)
Optional visit to the Yenikapı Shipwrecks (Limited to 30 people; Registration required)
17:30 - 19:00
Thursday 18 September 2025
09:15
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

09:15 Together, with, against: Building and Reassembling Astronomical Traditions in Three Different Contexts - Divna Manolova (Department of Literary Studies – Greek Section, Ghent University) Florence Somer (Observatoire de Paris) Sophie Serra (Lund University - Department of philosophy)
10:45 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:45 - 11:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
11:00
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

11:00 Prognostication, Fortune, and Risk: How Early Modern People Navigated Material Fortunes Through Almanacs and Astrological Consultations - Jakub Ochocinski (European University Institute) Luís Campos Ribeiro (University of Lisbon) Tunahan Durmaz (European University Institute)
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

11:00 Kepler, Witchcraft, and the Law - Lisa Klotz

11:20 Light-Dark and Death Divine: "Bad Mariology" in Colonial Mexico - Zachary Schwarze (Department of Religion, Rice University)

11:40 From Prophets to Martyrs in the First Two Generations of Quakerism, 1650s-1690s - Erin Bell (University of Lincoln)
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

11:00 Dynasties and Networks: Knowledge in Academic Families - Gerhard Wiesenfeldt (University of Melbourne)

11:20 Opinions and Experiments in Antonio Gómez Pereira’s Antoniana Margarita (1554): Digression and History in Natural Philosophy - Karine Durin (University of Nantes)

11:40 Counting the Bees: A Data-Driven Investigation into Early Modern British Thought (1605-1776) - Thijs Ossenkoppele (University of Amsterdam)
12:30 Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum or Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum (Registration Required)
Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum or Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum (Registration Required)
12:30 - 14:30
Room: Lunch • Venue: Grand Washington Hotel, Kemal Paşa Gençtürk Caddesi & Ağa Yokuşu Sok. No:6, Kemal Paşa, Ağa Ykş. No:5, 34134 Fatih/İstanbul
14:30
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

14:30 Cultures of Trust and Global Connections in Early Modernity. Remarks on Pacts and Agreements in Western and Central-Eastern European Texts - Filippo Marchetti (University of Pisa) Lorenzo Fancello (University of Pisa) Luisa Brotto (University of Pisa) Matthias Roick (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences)
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

14:30 Ways of Knowing Water in Early Modern Europe - David Gentilcore (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) Oscar Schiavone (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) Samuel Barney Blanco (Ca' Foscari University of Venice)
14:30 - 16:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (D328)
Contributions

14:30 Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence: Methodological Developments in the Study of Astronomical Sources - Matthieu Husson (LTE-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS) Somkeo Norindr (LTE-Observatoire de Paris)
16:00 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
16:00 - 16:15
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
16:15
16:15 - 17:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

16:15 On a Personal Note: Handwritten Knowledge Transfer in Ego-Documents - Alicja Bielak (Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (Poland)) Gábor Förköli (Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (Poland)) Matthias Roick (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)) Sooyong Kim (Koç University, Department of Comparative Literature (Türkiye))
17:45 Participants gather in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) prior to Yenikapı Shipwrecks visit
Participants gather in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) prior to Yenikapı Shipwrecks visit
17:45 - 18:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)

18:00 Optional visit to the Yenikapı Shipwrecks (Limited to 30 people; Registration required)
Optional visit to the Yenikapı Shipwrecks (Limited to 30 people; Registration required)
18:00 - 19:30
Friday 19 September 2025
09:15
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

09:15 Recording Melancholic Deaths: Necrologies and Healthcare in Early Modern Venice and Padua - Jessica Hogbin (Syracuse University)

09:35 Rembert Dodoens’s Construction of an Epistemology of Observational Experience: A Case in Sixteenth-Century Medical Empiricism - Zongbei Huang (Department of the History of Science, Tsinghua University)

09:55 An Evaluation for the Understanding of Rational Sciences in the Context of Natural Sciences Works in the Classical Period Ottoman - Nazime Özgür Tamdoğan (Ankara University)
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

09:15 Light-Colour Relationship in Taqi al-Din and His Primary Source Ibn al-Haytham - Sena Aydın

09:35 The Armillary Sphere in Molla Ali's Risâle-i Meyyâl: A 17th-Century Latin-to-Ottoman Turkish Translation and Its Structural-Functional Analysis - S. Ceren Özdemir

09:55 Islamic Clepsydrae in the Christian Spain During the Late Middle Ages - Víctor Pérez-Álvarez
09:15 - 10:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

09:15 Ways of Knowing: Exploring Science and Practice in the Early Modern Arabic Notion of al-Ṣināʿa - Sarah Sabban (Lebanese American University)

09:35 From the Mine to the Market: A History of Silver in the Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Empire - Deren Ertas (Harvard University)

09:55 Cross-Cultural Knowledge Transfer in Military Reform: The Impact of Rochefort’s 1717 Proposal on the Ottoman Empire - Alper Atasoy (Independent Researcher (Türkiye))
10:45 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:45 - 11:00
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)
11:00
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

11:00 The Divine and Demonic Beverage: Antonio Gazio’s Medical Treatise on Wine and Beer - Dávid Molnár (University of Tokaj)

11:20 Sacred Healing: The Interplay of Magic and Religion in Georgian Folk Medicine - Salome Gviniashvili (Tusheti Protected Landscape)

11:40 The Science of Aging: Metaphors, Medicine and the Quest for Vitality in Early Modern England - Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria)
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

11:00 How Not to Contextualise Materialism in Ottoman Historiography - Utku Can Akın

11:20 The Graphic (Re)Configuration of Historical Evidence: The Collective Construction of Diplomatics in Eighteenth-Century Germany - Andre Araujo (University of Brasilia (Brazil))

11:40 A Critical Historiography of the Intersection Between History of Architecture and Science in the Islamic World - Gul Kale (Carleton University)
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

11:00 Giovanni Poleni and the Early Development of Electrical Science in Northern Italy - Lorenzo Voltolina (Università di Padova)

11:20 Scientific Instruments of the 18th-Century Electrical Phenomena from a Philosophical Perspective: An Analysis in the Light of Sturgeon’s Lectures on Electricity - Tuğçe Esenduran (Istanbul Technical University)

11:40 Leibniz on the Representation of Geometrical Objects: The Role of Algebra - Alessia Salierno (Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy))
11:00 - 12:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (D328)
Contributions

11:00 How Can We Use the Astrolabe in Education to Inspire A New Generation? - Willem de Graaf (Utrecht University)
12:30 Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum, Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum or IU Rare Books Library Collections (Registration Required)
Lunch & Optional visit to the IU Turkish Hamam Culture Museum, Rıdvan Çelikel Archaeology Museum or IU Rare Books Library Collections (Registration Required)
12:30 - 14:30
Room: Lunch • Venue: Grand Washington Hotel, Kemal Paşa Gençtürk Caddesi & Ağa Yokuşu Sok. No:6, Kemal Paşa, Ağa Ykş. No:5, 34134 Fatih/İstanbul
14:30
14:30 - 15:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)
Contributions

14:30 Medicine and Slavery in the Early Modern Mediterranean World - Valentina Pugliano (Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy)) Ana Struillou (Institute of Historical Research, London (England))
14:30 - 15:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 9)
Contributions

14:30 Inside/Outside the ‘Box’: Boundaries, Materiality and Affect in the Early Modern Home - Christine Quach (University of Maryland) Nur'ain Taha (Utrecht University)
14:30 - 15:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Lecture Hall (Amfi 8)
Contributions

14:30 The Unsanctified Space: Observatories in Islamic Lands - Mostafa Yavari (University of Tehran, Institute for the History of Science)

14:50 An Astronomical Summa of the Safavid Era: Tashrīḥ al-Aflāk by Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī - Kaveh Niazi (Stanford Online High School)
15:30 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
15:30 - 15:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)

15:45 Conference Closing and Annual General Meeting
Conference Closing and Annual General Meeting
15:45 - 16:45
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Main Hall (Kurul Odası)

16:45 Conference Photoshoot & Gathering in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) before proceeding to the Istanbul University Observatory for Closing Reception
Conference Photoshoot & Gathering in Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü) before proceeding to the Istanbul University Observatory for Closing Reception
16:45 - 17:30
Room: Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Hall of Honor (Şeref Holü)

17:30 Tour of the Historical Telescope, Gleissberg Astronomical Collection, Planetarium Show
Tour of the Historical Telescope, Gleissberg Astronomical Collection, Planetarium Show
17:30 - 19:00
Room: Istanbul University Observatory Research and Application Center

19:00 Evening Reception – Istanbul University Observatory Garden
Evening Reception – Istanbul University Observatory Garden
19:00 - 21:30
Room: Istanbul University Observatory Research and Application Center

Choose timezone